Yamaha YDP223 88-Key Graded Hammer Piano with Bench
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64 notes of polyphony. Dark Rosewood finish woodgrain cabinet.
Overview
You already know how important an investment a piano is to your family. Having a piano in your home not only fills it with beautiful music, but music lessons on a piano have a proven positive effect on your child's academic performance and self-confidence. And of course, a piano is an elegant addition to any room. . . but actually owning a piano presents its own set of challenges. First, you have to actually get it into your house, after which you'll certainly need to have an expert come in and tune it. Oh, and keep the tuner's number on file; you'll be calling him once every six months to keep your instrument tuned as the seasons change. These and other logistical challenges are simply par for the course with owning a piano. Unless, that is, you choose to invest in a Yamaha YDP223 Digital Piano.
You may think that no digital instrument could ever truly take the place of the real thing, but any doubts you may have will disappear when you sit down to play your new YDP223. From the feel of the Graded Hammer Action keyboard to the incredible Advanced Wave Memory stereo-sampled grand piano sound, you'll understand why Yamaha Digital Pianos have become a standard in homes, studios, churches and performance venues across the globe. With your eyes closed, you won't be able to tell the difference between it an the real thing, and when you do open your eyes, you'll be staring at the dark-stained, fine-grained wooden cabinet of an instrument you'll be proud to show off.
Because the YDP223… read more is a fraction of the weight and size of even an upright acoustic piano, bringing it home and finding a place for it to live is far easier than with an acoustic instrument. And, because the Yamaha is a Digital Piano, it never needs tuning. You'll save time and hassle on transport and maintenance.
Even with all this convenience, the YDP223 sacrifices nothing in tone or playability. The keys are weighted for an action that emulates that of real, mechanical keys. And "Graded" means that, just like on a real piano, the action feels slightly "heavier" on the bass keys than it does on the treble keys. In concert with the three piano-style foot-pedals, the YDP223 utterly matches the physical experience of playing a world-class acoustic grand piano. It's an experience only heightened by the amazingly realistic, stereo-sampled grand piano sound, powered by Yamaha's proprietary Advanced Wave Memory engine. By sampling multiple sounds for each note, the YDP223 is able to accurately represent the complex and subtle tones of an acoustic piano, along with it's entire dynamic range. Play softly and the notes remain warm and full. Play loudly and the brightness of the strings' natural overtones shines. In addition to the brilliant piano sounds, the YDP223 comes equipped with fourteen other voices, from harpsichord to classical guitar to a vocal choir. It's like having an entire orchestral ensemble in your home and at your fingertips.
How does Yamaha do it? Over a century of building grand pianos for the world's most demanding musicians, composers, and institutions may have something to do with it. Yamaha knows what a piano is supposed to sound like, play like and feel like, and they've applied their stringent quality standards to their entire line of Digital Pianos. The YDP223 sounds and plays more like a real piano because it was built by real piano-builders, and because it's a Digital Piano, it's even easier to bring a piece of their craftsman heritage home with you. read less
You may think that no digital instrument could ever truly take the place of the real thing, but any doubts you may have will disappear when you sit down to play your new YDP223. From the feel of the Graded Hammer Action keyboard to the incredible Advanced Wave Memory stereo-sampled grand piano sound, you'll understand why Yamaha Digital Pianos have become a standard in homes, studios, churches and performance venues across the globe. With your eyes closed, you won't be able to tell the difference between it an the real thing, and when you do open your eyes, you'll be staring at the dark-stained, fine-grained wooden cabinet of an instrument you'll be proud to show off.
Because the YDP223… read more is a fraction of the weight and size of even an upright acoustic piano, bringing it home and finding a place for it to live is far easier than with an acoustic instrument. And, because the Yamaha is a Digital Piano, it never needs tuning. You'll save time and hassle on transport and maintenance.
Even with all this convenience, the YDP223 sacrifices nothing in tone or playability. The keys are weighted for an action that emulates that of real, mechanical keys. And "Graded" means that, just like on a real piano, the action feels slightly "heavier" on the bass keys than it does on the treble keys. In concert with the three piano-style foot-pedals, the YDP223 utterly matches the physical experience of playing a world-class acoustic grand piano. It's an experience only heightened by the amazingly realistic, stereo-sampled grand piano sound, powered by Yamaha's proprietary Advanced Wave Memory engine. By sampling multiple sounds for each note, the YDP223 is able to accurately represent the complex and subtle tones of an acoustic piano, along with it's entire dynamic range. Play softly and the notes remain warm and full. Play loudly and the brightness of the strings' natural overtones shines. In addition to the brilliant piano sounds, the YDP223 comes equipped with fourteen other voices, from harpsichord to classical guitar to a vocal choir. It's like having an entire orchestral ensemble in your home and at your fingertips.
How does Yamaha do it? Over a century of building grand pianos for the world's most demanding musicians, composers, and institutions may have something to do with it. Yamaha knows what a piano is supposed to sound like, play like and feel like, and they've applied their stringent quality standards to their entire line of Digital Pianos. The YDP223 sounds and plays more like a real piano because it was built by real piano-builders, and because it's a Digital Piano, it's even easier to bring a piece of their craftsman heritage home with you. read less
Specs
Keyboard: GH (Graded Hammer Effect) Weighted Action, 88 keys
Tone Generator: Stereo Sampling AWM
Polyphony: 64 notes max.
Voice Selector: Grand Piano 1, Grand Piano 2, Electric Piano 1, Electric Piano 2, Harpsichord 1, Harpsichord 2, Vibraphone, Church Organ 1, Church Organ 2, Jazz Organ, Strings1, Strings2, Choir, Guitar plus Dual Voice (combine two voices at once)
Effect: Reverb, Effect, Brilliance
Volume: Master Volume Control
Controls: Dual, Metronome, Transpose, Touch (Hard/Medium/Soft/Fixed), Functions, Speaker ON/OFF
Recording/Playback: 2-Track recording/playback; 1 User Song, Tempo Adjustment, Synchro Start
Pedal: Sustain (Damper), Sostenuto, Soft
Metronome Tempo: 32-280 bpm
Pitch Control: 427.0 Hz - 453.0 Hz (Standard Pitch 440.0 Hz) in about 0.2 Hz steps
Demo Songs: 14 Voice Demo Songs, 50 Preset Songs with Song Book
Jacks/Connectors: MIDI (In/Out/Thru), To Host, Headphones X 2, Aux In, Aux Out (L/L+R, R), Aux Out (Level Fixed) (L,R)
Main Amplifiers: 20W x 2
Speakers: 16cm x 2
Dimensions (W x D x H): 53 15/16 x 20 3/8 x 33 7/16 in.
Weight: 112 lbs 7 oz.
Tone Generator: Stereo Sampling AWM
Polyphony: 64 notes max.
Voice Selector: Grand Piano 1, Grand Piano 2, Electric Piano 1, Electric Piano 2, Harpsichord 1, Harpsichord 2, Vibraphone, Church Organ 1, Church Organ 2, Jazz Organ, Strings1, Strings2, Choir, Guitar plus Dual Voice (combine two voices at once)
Effect: Reverb, Effect, Brilliance
Volume: Master Volume Control
Controls: Dual, Metronome, Transpose, Touch (Hard/Medium/Soft/Fixed), Functions, Speaker ON/OFF
Recording/Playback: 2-Track recording/playback; 1 User Song, Tempo Adjustment, Synchro Start
Pedal: Sustain (Damper), Sostenuto, Soft
Metronome Tempo: 32-280 bpm
Pitch Control: 427.0 Hz - 453.0 Hz (Standard Pitch 440.0 Hz) in about 0.2 Hz steps
Demo Songs: 14 Voice Demo Songs, 50 Preset Songs with Song Book
Jacks/Connectors: MIDI (In/Out/Thru), To Host, Headphones X 2, Aux In, Aux Out (L/L+R, R), Aux Out (Level Fixed) (L,R)
Main Amplifiers: 20W x 2
Speakers: 16cm x 2
Dimensions (W x D x H): 53 15/16 x 20 3/8 x 33 7/16 in.
Weight: 112 lbs 7 oz.
Documents and Manuals
For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 714-522-9011
Web: https://usa.yamaha.com/support
Phone: 714-522-9011
Web: https://usa.yamaha.com/support
Yamaha's Description
Yamaha YDP223 88-Key Graded Hammer Piano
Classic Look and FeelThe YDP223 combines great sound and features in an attractive cabinet that will add a touch of elegance to any home. From the moment that you turn it on and start playing, you'll be glad you made the decision to buy Yamaha, the world leader in musical instrument manufacturing. The YDP223 features an 88-Key Graded Hammer Action. Graded Hammer Action emulates the action of a grand piano -- heavier in the bass and lighter in the treble areas of the keyboard (on a grand piano, the hammers get thicker as you move from treble to bass). And nobody does this better than Yamaha, one of the most respected manufacturers of upright and grand pianos in the world today. The YDP223 comes with a selection of 14 voices and features a Stereo Sampled AWM (Advanced Wave Memory) piano sound that feels, reacts and sounds like an acoustic. When you play harder, the sound is louder and brighter. And when you play softly, the sound is quiet and warm. And of course, it never needs tuning!
YDP223 -- The Musician's Choice
The YDP223 is the tool of choice for home hobbyists, professionals, music students and music institutions. There are many useful features built into the keyboard that apply to musicians at any level of playing ability. For example, the keyboard has MIDI In/Out/Thru plus a To Host jack, which are necessary for connecting to computers. Anything you play on the YDP223 can be captured into a music program in your computer and turned into music notation. If you wish, you can send the file to your friends and family or just archive it like you would a photograph.
There is nothing more rewarding than recording your child's first song and e-mailing it to their favorite grand parent. In addition, there is a 2-track recorder built into the instrument that is extremely intuitive and easy to operate. This feature is wonderful for recording a performance and analyzing it from an audience perspective. But it's not just for practicing; it's also a lot of fun! For example, you could record an Electric Piano part, then overdub a String track and finally, play a Piano part live while the other 2 tracks are playing back. It's like having your own recording studio right in your living room!
Practice Makes Perfect
Are you aware that learning music could increase your child's grades at school? If you are looking to purchase a digital piano for a child that is going to, or is presently taking lessons, you'll be happy to know that the weighted action makes sure that all those hours of practicing are well spent, building strength in the fingers so that a progression to an acoustic piano at a concert or performance is all taken in stride. The stereo-sampled piano sounds beautiful, and inspires people to want to play. This too, is important. The 88 keys is an investment in the future so that as the level of playing ability progresses, they won't run out of keys.
The YDP223 has an incredible 64 notes of polyphony (polyphony is how many notes that can sound simultaneously, including sustained notes). Just like most things in life, more is often better and 64 notes of polyphony will insure that you don't run out of notes, even in the most dense of musical passages. In addition to playing through the built-in speaker system, all Yamaha digital pianos have 2 headphone jacks so that you can perform to your heart's content without disturbing other family members or the neighbors and still share your music with that someone special. There is also a convenient headphone clip under the keyboard for storing them when not in use.
Playing In Tune
If you had an acoustic piano in the family growing up, you can probably relate to this. Most of us know it's a good idea to have an acoustic piano tuned and regulated at least once a year, preferably more. It's part of the regular maintenance of the instrument and insures that whoever is playing on it is playing their piece of music in pitch -- something that is very important for ear development. But how many people do you know that actually get their acoustic piano tuned as often as they should? Well, Yamaha Digital pianos never need tuning or regulating. Once you purchase the piano, you can forget about that "maintenance stuff" and just enjoy playing your new instrument. About the only maintenance you'll need to do on a Yamaha digital piano is to spoil it once in a while and dust it!
The YDP223 features a dark rosewood finish Woodgrain cabinet with sliding key cover. You'll notice from the picture that this keyboard has 3 pedals -- just like it's acoustic counterparts. Also included is an LED on the panel (provides visual feedback), a built-in Metronome, Digital Reverb (simulates playing in a church or concert hall), Chorus and Brilliance controls, and Transpose which allows you to play in any key you like (great for family sing-a-longs). The instrument comes with 14 different voices for you to choose from. These include 2 Grand Pianos, 2 Electric Pianos, 2 Church Organs, 2 Harpsichords, Vibraphone, 2 Strings, Jazz Organ, Choir and Guitar. And you can combine two sounds at once, like Piano and Strings. For your learning and listening pleasure, you'll find 50 built-in songs with Songbook. And finally, there is a matching padded bench.
(Features subject to change without notice)
Reviews
Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars.
(442 ratings)
Submitted September 18, 2003 by a customer from hp.com
"Great feel, sound, quality, and value. Excellent."
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
This piano is exactly what I was looking for. A great, authentic keyboard action (though not a Steinway), well-sampled sound, high-class looks, and lots of little extras that wrap it up nicely (bench, music book, MIDI, etc). I can play anything from Bach to Brahms on this thing, and it performs wonderfully.
My one niggling annoyance is that they just didn't think to put music book clips on the music stand. It would have cost about 50cents, but they just didn't do it. Tut tut.
Sound
The sound is probably the last reason I bought this piano. However, I was pleasantly surprised that it sounded excellent. I think they sampled the sounds from one of their own grand pianos, and you do get a sense of size which is surprising from such a small machine. If you really want loud sound, you may want to look at some of the Yamaha Clavinovas, which have 40W (or more) speakers. There are some very nice little touches, like the "key up" sound for the harpsichord, which accurately reproduces the sound made when you release a key.
Features
Features above and beyond the normal piano touch/response were not that important to me. The touch, however, is excellent. It really feels like a mid-range grand piano. The only thing I would add (I'm spoiled - used to playing Steinway Concert Grands) is the quick-return keys. On a Steinway, when you lift the key halfway up, you can feel the mechanism reset itself, so you can play the same note repeatedly… read more at high speed. With passages such as the fast solo from Rhapsody in Blue, this would really make it feel like $100,000 piano. For those who can't afford 6 figures for a piano (neither can I!), the graded hammer action and variable touch (soft, medium, hard) make this a GREAT feeling piano to play. It comes with the obligatory 10 voices or so, can record a couple of tracks (it would have been nice to record more, so I could accompany myself without having to re-record each time I change pieces), and has lots of demos. The demos make some nice background music, but really if you want to listen to piano music, a CD costs a lot less! The MIDI features, RCA audio jacks (put it through your amp system!), dual headphone sockets, matching bench, and 3 pedals really round this piano out. I just REALLY wish there were clips music books on the stand. Come on, even the cheapest uprights have those! It makes it VERY difficult to play music out of the book they include with the piano, let alone larger books. I couldn't bring myself to take 1 point off from the score for this, but it was very close.
Quality
The wood finish looks excellent, and really fits in with the brown leather couches in my living room. Most importantly, though, the piano is sturdy. You can bash out Rachmaninoff on this thing without having it wobble and tilt under you. Even the included bench (which looks a little weak at first) holds up very well.
Value
Definitely worth it. It strikes the best balance between features (excellent feel and response, sturdy quality, great sound) and price. When you're thinking about getting a Yamaha Clavinova that costs $600 - $1500 more, just ask yourself if you're actually going to USE what you're paying for. I surely wouldn't. On the other hand, I wouldn't have paid any more than I did for it, as an extra $200 or so would start to look expensive.
Manufacturer Support
I have no idea about support, as I've not had to use it. The only thing I didn't like was that, while this piano is IDENTICAL to the CLP-120 (another Yamaha, but in the Clavinova line), the YDP223 comes with a 1-year warranty, whereas the Clavinova comes with 5 years. While I don't expect (or hope) use it, it would be nice to have.
The Wow Factor
Excellent, excellent, excellent. I needed a good-looking, good-feeling, good-sounding piano, and I got it. Plus, all the extra bells and whistles are just icing on a delicious cake.
Musical Style:
Classical read less
Sound
The sound is probably the last reason I bought this piano. However, I was pleasantly surprised that it sounded excellent. I think they sampled the sounds from one of their own grand pianos, and you do get a sense of size which is surprising from such a small machine. If you really want loud sound, you may want to look at some of the Yamaha Clavinovas, which have 40W (or more) speakers. There are some very nice little touches, like the "key up" sound for the harpsichord, which accurately reproduces the sound made when you release a key.
Features
Features above and beyond the normal piano touch/response were not that important to me. The touch, however, is excellent. It really feels like a mid-range grand piano. The only thing I would add (I'm spoiled - used to playing Steinway Concert Grands) is the quick-return keys. On a Steinway, when you lift the key halfway up, you can feel the mechanism reset itself, so you can play the same note repeatedly… read more at high speed. With passages such as the fast solo from Rhapsody in Blue, this would really make it feel like $100,000 piano. For those who can't afford 6 figures for a piano (neither can I!), the graded hammer action and variable touch (soft, medium, hard) make this a GREAT feeling piano to play. It comes with the obligatory 10 voices or so, can record a couple of tracks (it would have been nice to record more, so I could accompany myself without having to re-record each time I change pieces), and has lots of demos. The demos make some nice background music, but really if you want to listen to piano music, a CD costs a lot less! The MIDI features, RCA audio jacks (put it through your amp system!), dual headphone sockets, matching bench, and 3 pedals really round this piano out. I just REALLY wish there were clips music books on the stand. Come on, even the cheapest uprights have those! It makes it VERY difficult to play music out of the book they include with the piano, let alone larger books. I couldn't bring myself to take 1 point off from the score for this, but it was very close.
Quality
The wood finish looks excellent, and really fits in with the brown leather couches in my living room. Most importantly, though, the piano is sturdy. You can bash out Rachmaninoff on this thing without having it wobble and tilt under you. Even the included bench (which looks a little weak at first) holds up very well.
Value
Definitely worth it. It strikes the best balance between features (excellent feel and response, sturdy quality, great sound) and price. When you're thinking about getting a Yamaha Clavinova that costs $600 - $1500 more, just ask yourself if you're actually going to USE what you're paying for. I surely wouldn't. On the other hand, I wouldn't have paid any more than I did for it, as an extra $200 or so would start to look expensive.
Manufacturer Support
I have no idea about support, as I've not had to use it. The only thing I didn't like was that, while this piano is IDENTICAL to the CLP-120 (another Yamaha, but in the Clavinova line), the YDP223 comes with a 1-year warranty, whereas the Clavinova comes with 5 years. While I don't expect (or hope) use it, it would be nice to have.
The Wow Factor
Excellent, excellent, excellent. I needed a good-looking, good-feeling, good-sounding piano, and I got it. Plus, all the extra bells and whistles are just icing on a delicious cake.
Musical Style:
Classical read less
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